U.S. Open 2012: Federer Cruises, Americans Fish, Blake Advance

Roger Federer breezed through the first round of the 2012 U.S. Open, beating Donald Young in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Federer won in a time of 1:34, going 27 minutes in the first set, 33 in the second and 34 in the third.

Federer won 83% of his first-serve points compared to 56% for Young, and had a decent margin over Young in second-serve points, with 61% to 46%.

Belgian Kim Clijsters has advanced through the opening round in her last Grand Slam tournament, defeating 16-year-old American Victoria Duval. Clijsters had little trouble with Duval, winning in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

The young Duval, playing in her first U.S. Open, was unable to post a single ace against Clijsters. Duval also struggled on her second serve, winning just 13% of those points. Clijsters was in control for much of the match, amassing five aces and winning 83% of her first-serve points.

Fifth-ranked Petra Kvitova battled back from a shaky start to beat Polona Hercog, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1, in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday. The Czech player finished strong after toughing her way through a difficult first set against the world’s No. 65 player.

Kvitova hasn’t had a great year so far, losing in the semifinals of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament, but she can still make some noise at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Hercog gave her a nice challenge initially, but once Kvitova rounded into form, it became clear that she would advance.

Third-ranked Maria Sharapova had little trouble in her first round match against Melinda Czink at the U.S. Open, defeating the Hungarian, 6-2, 6-2, on Monday. The Russian generally dominated the match, rebounding well from her defeat against Serena Williams in the Olympic final.

Early in the match, Czink was able to keep up with Sharapova, but things quickly came together for the No. 3 seed after the first set was tied 2-2. Czink often looked overwhelmed in her U.S. Open debut against one of the world’s best players.

19-year-old American Jack Sock earned a big U.S. Open win by defeating No. 22 seed Florian Mayer of Germany, 6-3, 6-2, 3-2, on Monday.

It was a relatively easy match for Sock, who had nine aces compared to two for Mayer and hit 34 winners, with Mayer hitting just eight in the match and easily handled the highly-ranked Mayer, despite 23 unforced errors. Sock also dominated on 2nd-serve points, something that has become a staple of his game over the past year. Sock’s powerful serve would also prove to be too much for Mayer, with Sock averaging 109 m.p.h. on the match.

American James Blake won his first-round match at the 2012 U.S. Open, defeating Slovak Lukas Lacko, 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Though Blake wasn’t dominant, he played much better than Lacko. Blake served 11 aces to Lacko’s four, and hit 39 winners to Lacko’s 22.

With the U.S. Open starting on Monday, let’s take a look at each “region” (each region equals one-quarter of the bracket) of the tournament, its most interesting matches, and its most fascinating story lines. We now switch gears to the women’s bracket. (See men’s “regional” previews for the Federer Bracket and Murray Bracket.)

No. 1 Victoria Azarenka

No. 7 Sam Stosur

No. 9 Na Li

No. 16 Sabine Lisicki

No. 18 Julia Goerges

With it being U.S. Open season, SB Nation’s Dan Rubenstein recently decided the time was finally right to try out for a ball boy position at United States Tennis Center. The (14 and over) position demands athleticism, determination, and an unyielding desire to appropriately toss fuzzy green balls to 6’2 Eastern European women.

After running through the necessary drills, including quick shuttle sprints to pick up service faults and throwing deep crosscourt passes to other awaiting ball persons, it’s evident that Dan ... at least has the desire to be near 6’2 Eastern European women.